19 on the 19th

On June 19th, Josh and I celebrated our 19th Wedding Anniversary! Josh booked us a room at a super cute  Bed and Breakfast in Southern Illinois and we spent a couple days touring wine country and eating all the yummy food! The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at was in an old school building that was over 100 years old (Davie School Inn) and each room was themed. Ours was very patriotic and I adored it! I even tried to get him to stay one more day! :) The food was amazing and it was such a cute and quaint place!

I was obsessed with the dinner plate sized hydrangeas!

Supper our first night was at a Chicago-style hole in the wall restaurant with window "decor" of Chicago icons in miniature

absolutely delicious (we had to try all the things)

Check out this amazing breakfast!

Let's go!

Starview - wine slushies are delish!

Blue Sky Vineyards - tasting flight

Check out that yummy charcuterie!

Feather Hills - local beer for Josh and sangria for me

I thoroughly enjoyed watching these brother and sister puppies - they were so lazy!

Pretty sure my handsome husband hasn't changed in 19 years! ❤️

oh the pretzel and cheese - just about as good as the drinks at VonJakob Brewery/Winery

Going to a fancy supper at a winery

roasted Brussel sprouts with goat cheese - worth the two days of tummy discomfort (Josh refused!)

Day 2 Breakfast

Kite Hill Vineyards

We FaceTimed with the girls while we were  out and learned that Mac lost  another tooth!

And Ivy was just happy to see Mama!

This was our favorite winery! Hickory Ridge Vineyard.  It was so tiny and more "in the middle of nowhere" than any others but the wine was magnificent. They are known for more dry wine and this is more our speed. But more than anything, the setting and view while enjoying the vino were amazing.

Peach Barn Winery with a bluegrass band

A little throwback to the day we said our "I Dos." (Pictures of pictures because nothing was digital back then!)

Dance Recital 2023

Dance Recital 2023! Ivy's second year of dance (tap and ballet) and Maclyn's 4th year (ballet, tap, jazz, and hip hop). Between the dress rehearsal and the actual recital, it was a long and exhausting two days! Also in those two days we set up for our church's VBS and cleaned up from Ivy's 5th birthday party the day before. It was almost too much but watching my girls perform made it all worth it! The videos are from their rehearsal (not allowed to film during the actual recital) and so they are a little rusty. Oh, I love my tiny dancers!

Ivy in her ballet costume

Maclyn ready for her jazz number

Ivy was recognized for her 2 years of dance with a bronze medal!

Maclyn was recognized for 4 years of dance with a gold medal!

The boys were super (not) thrilled to be watching their sister's dance rehearsal! 

Ivy and her Bronze-2 year dancer medal

Mac with her Gold-4 year dancer medal

Daddy couldn't make it to the recital because of work, but he was able to take a break from work during rehearsal to watch a few numbers. The girls were thrilled!

Ivy in her tap costume

Maclyn's ballet costume

Maclyn's favorite! Her tap costume

two of the most exhausted little girls on the way to their actual recital!

Curtain call! It was nearly 9:30 by this point...Ivy is behind the little girl holding Mac's hand and she had melted down just before going on stage. Just so you know, we could have left after their last numbers but both girls wanted to stay for curtain call! Poor Ivy couldn't hang though...

Pretty girl with her pretty flowers

Such a sad and sleepy little girl, trying to smile

with her amazing dance teacher, Ms. Caitie! Bless this baby, she was beside herself at this point